World Cup ratings continue to lag, as expected. Also: NASCAR’s Xfinity Series got a World Cup bump; a weaker lead-in sank the NHRA.
World Cup Ratings Still No Match For ’14
Thursday’s Croatia-Argentina FIFA World Cup match had 2.03 million viewers on Telemundo, per Nielsen fast-nationals, the network’s largest weekday audience of the week-old tournament. The match had a streaming audience of 532,000, bringing the total viewership up to 2.56 million.
With or without streaming included, viewership declined from the comparable window on Univision in 2014 (Uruguay-England: 2.79M).
Figures for the same match on FOX were not available, but Fox Sports GO turned in 340,000 streaming viewers.
Through Thursday, the World Cup has averaged 1.75 million viewers on Telemundo and 1.91 million on Fox Sports. The combined audience of 3.66 million is less than ESPN alone was averaging at this point in 2014 (3.72M). [Telemundo 6.22a, 6.22b, Fox Sports PR 6.22]
NASCAR Xfinity Gets World Cup Bump
Aided by a World Cup lead-in, last Sunday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Iowa had a 0.7 rating and 1.1 million viewers on FS1 — up a tick in ratings and 16% in viewership from last year (0.6, 983K) but down 20% and 18% respectively from 2016 (0.9, 1.4M). It was the first Xfinity Series race all season to post an increase, snapping a streak of 11 straight declines. [ShowBuzz Daily 6.19]
Weaker Lead-in Sinks NHRA
Tape delayed NHRA eliminations from Bristol (Tenn.) had a 0.42 rating and 693,000 viewers on FS1, down 25% in ratings and 31% in viewership from last year (0.56, 1.0M) and down 16% and 14% respectively from 2016 (0.50, 806K). The race aired after a NASCAR Xfinity Series race this year, and had a stronger Cup Series lead-in last year. [ShowBuzz]
